Tuesday , March 31, 2026

E-Commerce

Synchrony’s Retailers Suffer a Blow to Purchase Volume

The hits merchants are taking from the Covid-19 pandemic were apparent in the second-quarter financial results the big retail and cobranded card issuer Synchrony Financial reported Tuesday, results which include a 19% year-over-year drop in purchase volume. Stamford, Conn.-based Synchrony posted purchase volume of $31.2 billion versus $38.3 billion in …

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Starbucks Expands Reward-Eligible Payment Methods and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/21/20

Coffee king Starbucks Corp. announced new options beginning this fall for earning loyalty points, or stars, in the Starbucks Rewards program without paying with a registered Starbucks physical card or card loaded into the Starbucks mobile app. The options to be available at company-owned stores in the United States and Canada will …

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Its PayPal Deal Having Expired, eBay Acts on Its Global Ambitions for Managed Payments

Free of the restraints of a legal agreement with PayPal Holdings Inc., eBay Inc. said early Monday it will now start on a global expansion of its 2-year-old managed-payments program. The program has already delivered $4.7 billion in total payment volume in the United States and Germany, the company said, …

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The Card Networks and Open Banking; Crypto Platform Joins Mastercard Network and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/20/20

Cryptocurrency platform Wirex has become the first such entity to obtain a principal membership in the Mastercard network. The move comes as Mastercard Inc. announced an expansion of its cryptocurrency program, which aims to make it easier for crypto card companies to market their products. Wirex also announced recently it has hired long-time …

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COMMENTARY: How Their Open-Banking Buys Could Propel Mastercard And Visa

The global retail-payment networks Mastercard and Visa are on a tear, acquiring and investing in adjacent payment-opportunity space in networks that can leverage and reinforce their existing franchises.  Their traditional payment schemes are dominant worldwide and near indestructible. While for the foreseeable future they could grow on autopilot, to their …

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BigCommerce Eyes IPO and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/17/20

E-commerce services provider BigCommerce Holdings Inc. filed a registration statement this week ahead of a possible IPO.In its latest report on small businesses using its SwipeSimple payment service during the Covid-19 pandemic, CardFlight Inc. said overall transaction counts decreased 9.2% in the week ending July 12 from the week before, but were still 14% …

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EMVCo’s New Travel Authentication Guidelines and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/16/20

Standards body EMVCo has developed guidelines on how the travel industry can provide data to payment card issuers to better verify the authenticity of an e-commerce transaction using current authentication processes. The guidelines are an extension of EMVCo’s 3-D Secure messaging protocol.The number of data breaches in the United States dropped by approximately one-third in the …

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EBay’s Deal With PayPal Expires Soon. What Does That Mean for Managed Payments—And eBay Sellers?

With the expiration of a major agreement with PayPal Holdings Inc. just a few days away, eBay Inc. is charting a new course in payments. But at least some merchants are hoping the e-commerce giant will address outstanding questions about how payments will be handled in the new era. According …

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U.S. Bancorp’s Merchant Revenues Plunge and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/15/20

U.S. Bancorp, owner of merchant acquirer Elavon Inc., saw merchant-processing revenues decline 34% year-over-year in the second quarter to $266 million thanks to reduced consumer and business volumes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Processor Shift4 Payments Inc. has been named the official credit card processing company for the Las Vegas Raiders National Football …

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How the Pandemic Has Underscored the Crucial Role of Software in Processor Growth Plans

With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing merchants to beef up or add an e-commerce channel to service customers disinclined to enter a physical store, processors that have partnered with or acquired independent software vendors (ISVs) specializing in the online sales channel are well-positioned for growth, according to The Strawhecker Group. Since …

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